Referendum 71
CLICK THE PICTURE FOR
REFERENDUM 71 FLIERS.
The legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.
REFERENDUM 71 FLIERS.
HERE IS HOW R-71 WILL APPEAR ON YOUR BALLOT:
The legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.
This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage.
Should this bill be:
[ ] Approved
[X] Rejected
WHAT IS THE UPDATE ON REFERENDUM 71?
The Referendum 71 effort has successfully turned in the required amount of signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Although several legal challenges were filed to keep R-71 off the ballot, they have been unsuccessful.
WHY SHOULD I VOTE TO REJECT REFERENDUM 71?
When a referendum is filed and it collects enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, it gives the people the opportunity to approve or reject what the state legislature has done.
In this case, Washington will vote on whether to "approve" or "reject" legislation that would give same-sex couples every legal benefit of marriage.
If you believe marriage should remain the union between one man and one woman, than you will want to vote REJECT on R-71.
WHY SHOULD I VOTE TO REJECT REFERENDUM 71?
Preserve the freedom to disagree:
More than 180 times, SB 5688 states that same-sex domestic partners must be treated exactly the same as married couples. As homosexual couples receive equivalent recognition to married couples there is an inevitable conflict with the conscience and religious freedom of those who disagree. It threatens the individual’s ability to run their businesses freely, threatens the ability of religious leaders to teach their religion faithfully, and prevents individuals and businesses from competing for government contracts and/or receiving professional licenses. This bill does much more than provide health benefits and inheritance rights. It threatens every citizen’s freedom to disagree.
SB 5688 creates bad precedent:
Homosexual couples are not the only relationships in Washington that do not receive marriage benefits. Marriage benefits are withheld from relationships that involve (1) close relatives; (2) people who are already married; (3) people who are under the age of 18 (unless they receive parental or judicial consent); and (4) people of the same gender. If we eliminate the restriction on marrying someone of the same gender, what good reason is there to keep the restrictions on marrying family members or people who are already married?
Public schools will teach values at odds with most families:
Once the law makes no distinction between same-sex couples and heterosexual couples, the curriculum of public schools will reflect that fact. As a result public schools are likely to teach values that undermine what most parents believe about human sexuality. A federal court in Massachusetts said that the schools have a duty to teach that homosexual and heterosexual relationships are the same in every way because that is what their state law says. In California, parents have had to sue because the schools have said there is no duty to tell parents when their children will receive "sexual tolerance" education.
Save our tax dollars for more important things:
Once this legislation is fully implemented, it will cost the state of Washington $30 million/ year. Considering that the state is expecting a $3.5 billion deficit during the next budget cycle, this is not responsible prioritization of taxpayer dollars.
